Which two battles began the American Revolutionary War, whose legacy America250 commemorates?

The Battles of Lexington and Concord began the American Revolutionary War.

The fighting took place in Massachusetts on April 19, 1775. British troops marched from Boston toward Concord to seize military supplies, and colonial militia confronted them at Lexington before the conflict spread along the road to Concord.

The encounters produced the first battlefield casualties of the war and triggered a wider mobilization of colonial forces. The British column withdrew to Boston under sustained attack from militia members.

The war continued for more than six years after Lexington and Concord. American independence was declared in 1776, but major military operations continued until the British surrender at Yorktown in 1781 and the peace treaty of 1783.